DYLAN Ababou is a rock star. Or at the very least, he gets treated like one.

Girls would be shouting ?I love you, Dylan!? as he exits the court after a victorious game for the UST Growling Tigers.

If his team loses, girls will be lining up outside the gates of Araneta or Ultra offering him chocolates and trinkets to make him feel better.

He?d shyly smile on both occasions, embarrassed by the adulation that he gets. He?s been shoved into the limelight ever since the exit of powerhouse Jervy Cruz from the team.

Not only did he have to fill Cruz?s role as UST?s main man, he also has to lead the rest of his team as the captain.

?I can?t expect my teammates to die for the ball if I?m not doing the same thing,? he says. ?It will always be my fault every time we lose.?

His intensity seems to affect the rookie-laden team which sports analysts have initially dismissed as a team that would be lucky to win four games the entire season. The team?s current standing makes them a serious contender for the final four.

He is one of the factors why it is so. He?s the silent leader respected both by his teammates and opponents.

?We?re very lucky that our captain does not like losing,? says coach Pido Jarencio. ?Dylan is the best [small forward] in the league.?

It is a high praise from a coach who has seen him grow as a player. He was under Jarencio?s program long before he became a member of the Smart-Gilas Pilipinas national team.

Dylan is one of the two remaining members of the UST team that captured the 2006 crown after a Cinderella run that captured the imagination of basketball experts and lovers nationwide.

He says he wants to leave the team with a championship title. His efforts to that goal have clearly shown as he leads the Most Valuable Player race at the end of the first round of competition.